NRAI assures selection transparency

NEW DELHI: The irony wasn’t lost on anyone. Rifle shooter Sanjeev Rajput, among the few seniors in the current bunch who will be gunning for an Olympic quota place in this month’s World Cup here, praised the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) for its policies, in the presence of its president Raninder Singh, during the launch of the event here on Friday.

In 2016, Rajput was a ‘victim’ as despite winning a quota place for the country he was not sent, and trap shooter Manavjit Sandhu was handed the spot. In fact, out of the 12 Indian shooters for the Rio Olympics, Rajput was the only one to win the quota spot and still be left out. The quota (qualification spot) won by a shooter is awarded to the country and the federation decides who is selected.

“The federation is doing a good job and without its support it is a bit difficult to manage things. I am sure it will send the best team for the Tokyo Olympics” said Rajput, a silver medallist at the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games.

With the qualifiers for the Olympics on, the focus is back on the quota places and its distribution. Raninder Singh said the Olympic quota allotment policy is transparent and the selection committee will give quotas to eligible shooters on the basis of merit points. However, he added: “We are open to improvement.”